ash

Quick payment and excellent communication many thanks!

Ha ha!

Since being a pasty faced teenager looking in an old Bells catalogue I've lusted after one of these. Yesterday I finally picked a YOB one in excellent condition with valve rectifier and original 18" speaker cab and I'm not disappointed - here it is with my ''74 Gibson Grabber. The amp sounds incredible. Though the speaker probably needs a recone as it farts at higher volumes. It still shifts a surprising amount of air however and doesn't weigh the equivalent of a buffalo. It's lovely and my aim is to use it for recording and possibly even a gig or two.

La Bellas have quite a high tension compared to D'Addario - I have D'Addario flats on my Precision and they sound and feel great.

I replaced the strap on my Italian built Markbass Mini combo about 12 months after buying it as the rubber was wearing away. I got a replacement from eBay that looked more or less the same but was much stronger. That's been on for the last couple of years and the rubber hasn't perished or the screws loosened. It was just a generic replacement that looked similar - guess I struck lucky it was less than four quid if I remember correctly.

Yes it's genuine alright I reckon early to mid 70s era - the tuners look like Grover Titans and the pickup is in a more central position - also it has the later 3 point bridge. These basses tended to be heavier than earlier EB basses. A nice example although better pictures would help the sale.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1402942979' post='2478157'] Jedson LP bass with bolt-on neck. Quite detailed list of what's wrong with it, which doesn't seem to add up to all that much. Except, what's that bolt on the heel of the neck? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/jedson-bass-/171360230376?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item27e5dd9be8 [/quote] It's a strap button probably to give it a better balance.

There's a big difference value wise between a Burns and a Baldwin - and indeed a UK built Baldwin and an Italian built Baldwin. When Baldwin bought the Burns brand out guitars were built in the UK until the mid/later 60's then switched production to Italy. These instruments don't really justify high price tags as they were more budget conscious products and lack collector and player appeal. I owned a couple of Baldwin semis picked up cheaply and they were of a similar quality to the Vox, Eko and Shaftesbury products of the same era ( possibly some parts were made in the same factory ). Decent enough guitars with 'niche' appeal but not a patch on instruments like the UK made Burns Bison or even the more recent Burns basses from the Far East.

[quote name='hookys6stringbass' timestamp='1402659366' post='2475705'] Superb job , absolutely love it!! [/quote] That's a great compliment from someone who I know knows their Marathons! Cheers

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1402660559' post='2475715'] Nice... my sixer is due next month, looking forward to finally getting hold of it! Out of interest what are the four little holes in the back? looks like they are behind the pickup? [/quote] They are screws to adjust the height of the pickup, work well and keep the clean look of the pickup. I'm considering put in La Bella Bass VI flats on if I can find a cheap enough set!

Ha! Ha! Nice try mate, I have a bit of time on my hands so I will be able to look at all those YouTube tutorials I've been avoiding!

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1402597482' post='2475210'] Wow, stunning bass!! Interesting mix of hand-made vintage vibe and custom work, too! We're going to need proper, extensive pics asap, please! Very nice indeed - excellent work. [/quote] I'll do my best, if I can find my camera. I'm recovering from an operation on my Achilles' tendon so I'm not very mobile at the moment!

Well here it is fresh out of the Hiscox case - certainly worth the wait. This is a custom build based on my old Shergold Marathon 6 built by Jon Letts. The bass differs from the Shergold as it has slightly wider string spacing than the original. The pickup was hand made by Jon and sounds very near the original. The control plate, pots, strap buttons and 'shield' logo were taken from a long defunct Shergold of mine which had been trashed and then used for various parts. The bass is made from swamp ash using my Marathon as a template. The binding is ebony rather than the usual Shergold plastic! My next project is to use one of my original Shergold 6 string necks and get Jon to build an exact replica of the Marathon.....I need to save up some more cash though.... The bass sounds great and plays really well. The balance is great despite the scale and large headstock and it's very light.Currently it's strung with La Bella Bass VI strings an octave down from a guitar but can be strung B-C. I forgot to add that the pots are from my old Shergold too! Some basic iPad pics to give you a flavour.....

He's not the quickest to reply but he will get back to you eventually. I think it was around £35 - £45 it's a while ago. Certainly cheap enough.

I had two vintage Rick pickups rewound by the Creamery and I'm having a couple of Hofner '64 staple pickups repaired Jaime is a good guy and the work he did on my gear was great at a very reasonable price.